Ok, so i've browsed around the site. Most (of not all) say that Linux/programming background is a must. What language should I use? What linux distro? Is python any good? I heard that was pretty easy to pick up

Welcome to the boards. Any Linux distro that you are comfortable with should do just fine. Ubuntu and Fedora are probably the easiest to pick up if you do not have prior NIX experience. You will also find a good base of community support for these.

Others may disagree with me, but I would start with C and C++. Languages like Python, Ruby, and Perl are great, but learning C will teach you quite a bit about memory management. C++ will fill in with OOP. I would also review a few documents on Assembly as well. I also wouldn't forget the Windows side of programming.

There are numerous books out there. Like Ketchup said before, C is the language that can teach you a lower level of programming and memory management. So, my opinion is that a book on C is more beneficial than tutorials etc just because it provides a thorough introduction on Architecture aspects and carries on using those.

To me, the C Programming Language by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie is an ideal reference.

To be completely honest, at this moment I don't know exactly what I want to do. Everyone says that basic programming skills are a must so I'm deciding were to start. I think I'm leaning towards learning Python at the moment.

I think python is a great language to start with. It's easy to start understanding the basics of language syntax, programming logic, and not to mention CLEAN looking code (love those indents!)

Also, a lot of tools and scripts are written in python, so it would be good to learn how to read the code.

I think learning how to code is more important to a beginner than learning what the system is interpreting. Should you have to know how many bytes an Integer is in the beginning? No, not right away. Should he know what a pointer is or that he must free up / allocate memory in RAM? No, not right away. I think abstracting this type of information can make them focus more on algorithm and basic concepts. Further more, this makes it more "fun" making programming not seem so dry.

By all means, you should in fact KNOW this stuff eventually, but don't freak out if you don't. Don't forget, programming is just a part of the puzzle to become an amazing hacker. Try not to overwhelm yourself if you get tired of programming for a bit. Learn how networks work, and especially Active Directory services. People often forget the lack of security that an administrator may enforce in an AD environment.

I would say ethical hacking is getting more specialized into different areas including Application Security , Web Security and Network Security . You need to choose which one you wana go for since I am more towards Network Security so I need to learn something other than those at first .

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.

I'd definitely start with learning python & I agree with what secureseven said. What's great about python is like already said, there's tons of tools and scripts written in it (my two current favorites are Kennedy's FastTrack & Social Engineering Toolkit). What you have at your fingertips is the ability to take a look at existing scripts and dive right into it - taking what you want and then applying it when making your own programs.

It's very useful for task automation & is easier to write exploits in. I'd say pick up on python then come around and do C. Both are musts!

Hello!I'm currently at College studying a BTEC National Diploma in IT and plan on going to University for Web Development. I've known basic HTML for about 5 years, but haven't furthered my knowledge much. Recently, I started touching up my HTML skills and can now comfortably build a basic website without needing any help from programmes or source codes.I've been looking at other languages to learn, and noticed a lot mentioned JavaScript is probably the best language to learn after knowing HTML. I started looking at JavaScript and am starting to pick up the basics.I just thought I'd get some more opinions. With my current knowledge of HTML and wanting to go into Web Development professionally within the next few years, what should I be moving towards? Which languages should I try and pick up? Should I start learning JavaScript? PHP? or any others?